Author Interview (and a Giveaway!): Izzy James & Max

Welcome to the Blog Tour for Max by Izzy James, hosted by JustRead Publicity Tours! I’m honored to have Izzy on the blog today to chat about her time travel romance!

MAX by Izzy James
SERIES: Yorktown Christmas Time-Travel Novellas #1
GENRE: Christian Time Travel Romance
PUBLISHER: Bent Knee Press
RELEASE DATE: December 6, 2019
PAGES: 92

Trapped in his conservatory for 250 years by the curse of an enraged woman, Max appears to Olivia just before Christmas.

Olivia is a young woman waiting for the right man to recognize her strengths and talents. Can Olivia help Max break the curse without breaking her heart?

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Hi Izzy! Welcome back to the blog!

Izzy: Thank you so much for hosting me on your blog. It is an honor for me to be here with you today.

Izzy: Winter! There is nothing like a cool breeze to blow away the muggy heat of summer. My energy rises and I play outside and run around until the warmer weather causes me to hibernate.

Carrie: YES! I am the same way. I come alive in cool temps and get grumpy when it’s warm lol.

Izzy: Tea. Don’t get me wrong. I love coffee, but it doesn’t love me back. Tea on the other hand, well, I love tea and it loves me. I drink it hot or cold all day long, all year long!

Carrie: I’m trying to like tea… but so far I have to drown it in so much sugar that I might as well just stick to my diet coke haha

Izzy: This is a great question. One I do not get asked very much, so I’m glad to share my preference for OVER. It’s just cleaner in my opinion.

Carrie: that makes sense!

Izzy: Both. I love print books for research and math. For most fiction I prefer e-books. I can store them easier and I can take lots of them EVERYWHERE. I read everyday and I do not go anywhere without a book, so I’ve been e-booking since they first came out.

Carrie: yes, why do people go places without taking a book (or 5000) with them? I don’t get it lol

Q: Around here I like to say that reading is my superpower. If YOU had a superpower, what would it be?

Izzy: I’d like the power to control time. That way I could get so much more done. Not to mention the fabulous research trips I could take. 🙂

If you are referring to my current abilities, I would have to say that I have the superpower of falling down research rabbit holes.

Carrie: I would love to control time…. and then pause it for everyone but me until i get caught up on my TBR pile 😉

Q: Who is your favorite book character from childhood?

Izzy: Bilbo Baggins. My father was Norwegian and retained a lilting cadence to his speech. One week when I was little, he decided to read The Hobbit to my sisters and I. I will never forget Bilbo and the dwarves and trolls. Even now when I re-read the old story, I hear his voice.

Carrie: aww i love that! My dad read The Hobbit to me as well, and his Gandalf voice is forever cemented in my mind as THE voice of Gandalf. I was pleased when the LOTR movies came out that Ian McKellan’s voice was a good imitation of my dad’s ♥

Q: Do you have any strange writing habits/quirks? Any snacks/beverages that are a must when you sit down to write?

Izzy: I hope it’s not too strange, but I chew bubble gum while I write. I blow bubbles and pop along until I’m done.

Carrie: hahaha that’s great!

Q: What surprised you about Max or your characters as you wrote their story?

Izzy: I was surprised Max wanted a cell phone. When I first envisioned him I knew he was a successful merchant and all the things that would go along with that, but it hadn’t occurred to me until I wrote the scene with Olivia pulling out the twenty-first century’s go-to tool that he would have to have an opinion. And of course he would want one, I mean any successful shop owner is always looking for the latest thing, right?

Carrie: exactly!! I bet watching him figure it out was fun to write 🙂

Q: Did you have the whole plot outlined before you started writing, or did you let the characters dictate what came next?

Izzy: I’m a hybrid of that. I do work from an outline, but some details come up, like Max and the cell phone, that I just don’t think of while outlining. I have the flexibility of changing to suit the story as it grows from the outline.

Carrie: the best of both worlds!

Q: What is something God taught you while you wrote Max?

Izzy: To trust His guidance as I move ahead in my career. I know that we humans cannot travel through time. I also know that it is good to use our imaginations to His glory. The Yorktown Time Travel series was such fun to write that I think I must come back to it again sometime and I’m trusting Him that He will continue to lead me in the way that I should go—not that I’ll never make any mistakes of course. I just feel a little more confident on the path.

Carrie: that’s a great lesson to learn ♥

Thank you so much for taking time to talk with me! 🙂 Before we say goodbye for today, tell us what‘s coming up next for you.

Izzy: A couple of big things are going on for me this year. First, I’m launching a new pen name: Eliza Wilson. The first book will be a contemporary Christian romance called: Evans: Soldier Billionaires Book 1.

Second: I am starting a new series called The Wilderness Road. Book one is called The Road Home.

Both books will be out this year. You should see the covers!

Izzy James is the pen name of Elizabeth Chevalier Hull. Elizabeth grew up in coastal Virginia surrounded by the history of the founding of our nation. She lives there still with her fabulous husband in a house brimming with books.

Connect with Izzy by visiting izzyjamesauthor.com to follow her on social media or subscribe to email newsletter updates.

(1) winner will receive a print copy of the book and a $25 Amazon gift card!

(1) additional winner will receive a print copy of the book!

Full tour schedule linked below. The giveaway begins at midnight January 24, 2023 and will last through 11:59 PM EST on January 31, 2023. Winner will be notified within 2 weeks of close of the giveaway and given 48 hours to respond or risk forfeiture of prize. Open internationally. Void where prohibited by law or logistics.

Giveaway is subject to JustRead Publicity Tours Giveaway Policies.

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This giveaway is hosted by JustRead Tours, not RimSP
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What about you? What makes you want to read Max by Izzy James?